Google's gotta get all those pictures so the crooks know who to invade. Google Sells Privacy for a Buck -- Redmondmag.com Here's the article: Google Sells Privacy for a Buck In a recent letter, a loyal Redmond Report reader wrote that Google's StreetView took such a great picture of his house you could see right inside. That's pretty bad. But what may be worse is when Google drives onto private property to take shots of houses set a ways back from the road. That's what happened to Christine and Aaron Boring. A Google van drove down their private road and took photos -- not just of the front, but the backyard and pool. The couple sued and won a judgment. So are the Borings living high on the hog with all that Google cash? Not exactly. The judge only gave them a measly buck. Can you say moral victory? I thought you could.
I have an interesting take on this story. A few years ago, I was out running around the Close Neighborhood, and I hear an Aircraft approaching, and then landing, close by. I didn't see it just heard it, so I went to see who was coming in. We have a Road, that aircraft land on, and a State Floatplane Dock, here. I drove up the road, but no plane, so I went over to the Floatplane Dock, and here was a Beaver on floats, tied up, and a bush pilot I know, helping a dude unload some equipment. Now there isn't any place for unknown folks to stay within 40 miles, so I was curious just who, what, where, and why. Turns out it is the "Goggle Guy", who had some GPS Survey Gear, and needed to take to location readings, on some Registration Points, that were visible on the High Resolution Sat Pictures, so that when folks search, the right pictures get displayed at the right locations. He didn't actually work directly for Google, but was a Contractor, hired to get the pictures registered correctly. I took him around and even feed him lunch, and about a month later, he sent me a DVD with some Super High Resolution Sat Pictures of my Close Neighborhood, that have about four times the resolution of the stff they have on the internet, now. So, if you want to see my Close Neighborhood, you can see my cabin, and the Truck parked out front, on Google....
